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2011 Reading Challenge: 55/60

After devouring 11 books very early in the year, I ramped up my challenge for 2011 to 60 books. I ended at 55. I’ve gone ahead and challenged myself to read 50 this year. I figure this way I can continue reading a high amount of books without it being the only thing I do in my free time (haha).

For kicks, here are the 55 books I read in 2011. My favorites are bold and italicized. Have you read any of these? Thoughts?

23 thoughts on “2011 Reading Challenge: 55/60”

Good luck with your challenge. Having managed around 34 books last year, I’ve gone crazy and challenged myself to read 196 in 2012 – one from every sovereign state in the world. I think reading will be the only thing I do in my spare time this year!

First I was like, “she’s reading all the classics,” and then it became, “oh she’s reading all the popular YA.” This list is awesome because it has a bit of everything. Good luck with your challenge for next year!

Happy New Year to you!! I never really paid attention to how much I read until Goodreads. Joining that website and giving myself a challenge last year was the single biggest contributing factor to increasing my reading and letting me see what I accomplished. It is SO easy on there. I highly recommend it.

Great list. I started The Hunger Games trilogy and I am loving it. My daughters love it too. I am going to start The Kane Chronicles after I am done. I know I should be reading more “adult” books but these are amazing reads.

I have Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes on my list. Did you not like it? Or was it just because it was about finance.

I am hoping to get my hands on Hunger Games this year. The Kane Chronicles are fun and my son has a few more I need to catch up to. I like to mix it up. Sometimes, I just need some easy to digest books.

Oh I didn’t not like it. I actually found it pretty interesting and suggested it to my dad who is a psychologist. I just bolded and italicized the ones I would like to buy and add to my collection. It has a LOT of statistics and research and facts. Sometimes it’s overwhelmingly numberish. But again, I really thought it was neat and my dad is enjoying it.

I *love* that your list is all over the place. You and my sister have totally inspired me to read more!! I am a sucker for classics, YA fiction and of course, rando motivational books. I also read Rabbit Run this year!

This list probably better reflects my all over the place personality than anything else I can think of. If you sign up for Goodreads and do a Reading Challenge on there, find me here so I can be your cheerleader and spy on your reading habits 😉

I’ve read all the Percy Jackson books and liked them very much – also “The Girl Who…” books. I also really liked the Poisonwood Bible and have been thinking about reading it again. I’ve been interested in V for Vendetta – I will have to check that one out.

I’m a tad surprised at how many books we have in common on our reading lists. Though “A Visit From the Goon Squad” disappointed me–such a great plot device that didn’t really wind up and not a single character that I actually liked. If you start “The Hunger Games” just know that the first book is wonderful, the second book is OK, and by the end of the third book, you will want to throw it against the wall–a total waste of great characters. I think “The Lonely Polygamist” is one of the best books I read in 2011. Udall’s first book “The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint” is even better–why doesn’t that guy write FASTER?

I didn’t really like any of the characters in the Goon Squad either, but for some reason I found them readable. That’s a big difference to me. Especially something I came to appreciate at the end of the year when I read things like Rabbit, Run and Lolita. Then again, after getting some distance from the book, I find it’s not one I think to recommend to others. So even though I enjoyed the experience of reading it, I don’t think it was really well-written overall. I also got much stricter with my ratings as the year wore on so it may have just been read at the right time!

I keep getting mixed reviews on The Hunger Games. Half are just like you, and the other half worship the whole thing. The latter always makes me skeptical.